Mark Twain's semi-autobiographical travel memoir, "Roughing It" was written between 1870-1871 and subsequently published in 1872. Billed as a prequel to "Innocents Abroad", in which Twain details his travels aboard a pleasure cruise through Europe and the Holy Land in 1867, "Roughing It" conversely documents Twain's early days in the old wild west between the years 1861-1867. Employing his characteristically humoristic wit and flare for regional dialect,...

Adventurous author, pioneering reporter, workaholic newspaper editor, passionate Indian rights activist, librarian, poet, anthropologist and archeologist, Charles Fletcher Lummis was a great colorful individualist who explored and popularized the American Southwest. In 1884, with a job offer to become City Editor of the Los Angeles Times, Lummis determined to walk to his new job from Ohio, covering over 3,500 miles through 8 states and territories....

"The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe land, canyons, forests, and mountains. It's an American commons, and it is under assault as never before. Journalist Christopher Ketcham has been documenting the confluence of commercial exploitation and governmental misconduct in this region for over a decade. His revelatory book takes the reader on a journey across these last wild places, to see how...

Justine Shapiro follows the Blue Ridge Parkway, journeying to Tennessee and the city of Nashville. She visits its famous country music sites and the old plantation home of US President, Andrew Jackson. Justine then hits the legendary Route 66, stopping at a giant cattle auction in Oklahoma City. She then joins the 'Trail of Tears' memorial walk for Native Americans before crossing the Texas Panhandle into Arizona where she visits the world's best...